Bank Systems & Technology: Vice-President of Cognizant Business Consulting Outlines Principles for Financial Institutions to Use Social Media to Drive Operational Change

“Although the world is still in the process of figuring out how to make money from social media, one concept that has become pretty widely accepted is that this capability comes from the way in which connections enable unanticipated interactions around products, services and ideas. Just as importantly, progress comes from watching these interactions and then opportunistically exploiting what is learned,” writes Edward R. Merchant. “Role definitions, operating procedures, and service provider strategies should all be subjected to a ‘5 whys’ exercise: Ask why something is done a certain way and then ask why the answer is what it is four times.”

He adds, “Everyone likes to be associated with hot new things. However, given that it is difficult to provide quantitative explanations about how and where social media is going to deliver value, it is easy to have ideas shot down before they are even given a chance to develop. Consequently, it is important to be able to run some trials to gain experience and learn lessons without everyone watching.”

According to Merchant, the benefits of operational savings can only be realized by applying IT in new ways that focus on enabling dynamic collaboration as opposed to enforcing rigid process and data codification. He says that it is important to start learning from the pioneers now. “Small differences in strategy can make a big difference in results when it comes to social media,” writes Merchant.

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